Letters
by Theodore Hawkwood
Summary: In the spring of 2005 Jennifer Coates wrote a letter as part of a pen pal program. It was received by a deployed Army National Guard sniper in Ramadi, Iraq.
1. Letters, Part 1

Letters, Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own JAG at all.

Authors note: I thought of revamping the Mail Call fanfiction from my old account, Soul Reaver and this is the end result.

Summary: In the spring of 2005 Jennifer Coates wrote a letter as part of a pen pal program. It was received by a deployed Army National Guard sniper in Ramadi, Iraq.

* * *

1 April 2005

Dear Petty Officer Coates,

Your letter arrived, among a batch of Any Soldier letters, yesterday. Our First Sergeant pretty much handed out the letters to each platoon and my boss, Staff Sergeant Keck, handed yours to me.

I gotta say its nice to get mail out here, since we're in the middle of a city called Ramadi. Though it shares 83% of the letters with the Ramada I wouldn't recommend a vacation here. We arrived here early last week late in the night and are still feeling our way around.

A bit about myself? I am a soldier with the 2-124 Infantry Battallion, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Florida Army National Guard, attached to the 1st Marine Division. I come from New Smyrna Beach, FL but live in Orlando, FL because I'm finishing up college at the University of Central Florida.

Can you tell me about yourself? What makes Jennifer Coates tick? I see you're in the Navy. What's your MOS (job) or whatever the Navy calls it?

Sincerely,

Roland "Rusty" Puckett  
SGT, 11B4, US Army

* * *

Camp Corregidor  
Ramadi, Iraq  
1 April 2005, 1400

Staff Sergeant Wallace Keck lumbered into the one room that the eight men of the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment's sniper section shared with the sniper platoon from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines.

"I'll be right back, Keck." Rusty said as he rose to his 5'8" height and grabbed his M16A4 with its telescopic ACOG site, sound suppressor and modified trigger and his patrol cap before walking out of the hooch to the small building that served as the outpost's supply section/post office.

"You wrote a letter back to the Any Soldier writer?" Keck replied, wiping sweat from his nearly bald forehead, "What's his name?"

"She's a woman, Keck." Rusty said with a wry grin.

"So she claims." Keck countered, stretching out on his cot.

"Screw you Keck." Rusty joked, dodging a crushed empty soda can Keck half heartedly lobbed at him.

As Rusty donned his patrol cap he faintly heard Staff Sergeant Hartzl, one of the Marine snipers, remark, "Hey Army, hope you shoot better than you throw a crushed soda can."

_Timeliness_. Rusty thought, glad he'd be clear of the obvious Army/Marine Corps rivalry for a few minutes.

* * *

JAG Headquarters  
Fall's Church, Virginia  
12 April 2005, 1500

"This just came for you, Coates." Gunnery Sergeant Galindez said, holding up an envelope, "It wound up in my inbox by accident."

"Thanks Gunny." Coates replied and then opened the letter. "New pen pal?" Gunny asked.

"New penpal?" Gunny asked.

"It was part of that Any Soldier program that Lieutenant Simms was talking about last month, Gunny." Jen replied, "Evidently whoever received mine wrote back."

"Interesting." Gunny remarked before heading back to his own desk.

Jen held the newly unfolded sheet of paper, reading it and after a quick glance at her computer screen she pulled a legal pad from her desk and began to start writing a letter of her own.

_A bit formal, but he seems nice enough._ Jen thought as she composed her own response.

* * *

Observation Post Hotel  
Ramadi, Iraq  
23 April 2005, 0645

"Kanas. Kanas. Kanas." The mosque loudspeaker sounded.

"What does that mean?" Rusty asked as he scanned the streets below, sitting well away from the open window of the long since abandoned hotel, like any well trained sniper.

"Sniper." Corporal Sid Randolph remarked, "They like shouting that any time they think we're out and about."

"Got two guys in black masks." Rusty remarked, by the rusting white clunker Toyota.

Rusty raised his M16, looking through the ACOG's aperture.

"Standby." Staff Sergeant Hartzl said, he and Randolph were helping orient one of the two four man Army National Guard sniper teams to the area near Corregidor.

"I see one, no, two AKs." Rusty continued as his crosshairs centering on one of the insurgents' torsos.

"Porky up." Specialist Richard "Porky" Porter, a stocky, 5'9" fellow built like a lineman, remarked from behind the M24 Sniper Weapon System, silently chambering a round.

"Not yet." Hartzl said, "Keep a watch on those two, maybe their buddies are gonna come out and play. Patience, guys, patience."

"Watch for their patterns then we whack them. I like it." PFC Billy Carwin, a skinny nineteen year old with a shaved head and a hook shaped nose, remarked.

"Exactly." Rusty said, shifting slightly in the chair he sat in, his rifle atop a wooden table on a collapsible bipod. Flicking the safety from safe to fire.

"Range me." Porky said.

Carwin grabbed the range finder, aiming it towards the car where the two insurgents stood, "268 meters."

"Got a guy, one RPG, coming out of the house." Carwin said.

"Got him." Hartzl said, raising his own M16A4, "Porky, we're firing off your shot."

Rusty heard Porky take a deep breath and then slowly exhale. His own finger depressed the trigger. _I'm really gonna drop the hammer on this guy. He doesn't even know I'm up here..._

Rusty could scarcely hear Specialist Vincent DiStephano on the radio, relaying to Samurai 6, the Marine battalion command post, the situation, "Samurai 6, Assassin 1-2, we are engaging three insurgents vicinity of OP Hotel..."

Crack! The M24 to Rusty's right erupted, followed by the barely audible thump from his own M16A4 and the slightly louder crack of Hartzl's unsuppressed M16A4.  
On the street below three insurgents hit the ground, almost simultaneously, with rounds having ripped into their chests.

"Good hit." Hartzl said. The three men lay motionless, blood spreading into the dusty streets below.

"Samurai 6, Assassin 1-2. Three enemy KIA in vicinity of OP Hotel. Request extraction." DiStephano began.

Rusty watched the streets below, hearing Porky lightly raise the bolt on his M24, pulling the bolt back and silently extracting the expended cartridge before chambering a second round.

"If anyone grabs that RPG I'm shooting his ass." Porky replied.

The streets below did erupt in frenzy. The few Iraqis nearby scattered away from the three dead insurgents.

"Kanas. Kanas." The mosque loudspeaker sounded.

"Humvees." Carwin said, grabbing his M4.

"Great timing Samurai..." DiStephano remarked.

Without rushing the snipers packed their gear and weapons and ran down the four flights of stairs towards three waiting Humvees waiting to get them back to Camp Corregidor.

It was several hours later, sweating, dusty and coming off an adrenaline high that Rusty walked into the plywood hut that served as quarters for the snipers. After cleaning his M16 and his 9mm pistol he noticed a letter on his cot.

"Just arrived today. This Jennifer Coates the penpal?" Keck remarked as he took a drink of water from a bottle next to his cot.

"I guess so." Rusty replied as he opened the envelope.

"Probably some old, frumpy secretary type." Keck remarked offhandedly as he was cleaning his own M4A1 rifle.

"I dunno," Rusty said as he pulled the letter from the envelope, "I have a hard time imagining that."

"Just saying be realistic, she's probably some frumpy old bat where you're imagining some beautiful woman..." Keck quipped.

* * *

12 April 2005

Dear Sergeant Puckett,

Well, a little about myself. I grew up in Wichita Falls, Kansas where my dad was a minister.

We call jobs rates in the US Navy, and I was an Electronics Technician 2nd Class before I switched over to be a Legalman 2nd Class, kinda like a Navy paralegal if that makes sense.

Well, I am working on getting my bachelors in psychology myself. And in my off time I like hanging out with friends, watching movies, occasionally going out to a nice bar or restaurant and hanging out with Mattie, my roommate/sorta niece (long story).

You seem like a nice guy, maybe even a gentleman, and I'd like to keep writing you. So what do you do in the Army? What are you studying in college?

And one more thing. It's Jen or Jennifer next time. No need to be so formal.

Sincerely,

Petty Officer Coates

* * *

JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, Virginia  
12 April 2005, 1400

"I take it you found a new friend in the Any Soldier letter writing?" Harriet remarked as she noticed the open letter on Jen's desk and that Jen was also folding up a response of her own.

"Yes ma'am." Jen replied with a smile.

"Who is he?" Harriet asked.

"He's an Army National Guard soldier from Florida and he's in Ramadi, Iraq." Jen replied, "And he's a college student when not in the National Guard."

"That sounds nice." Harriet replied.

"I'll be right back, ma'am," Jen replied, "just going to drop this in the mailbox."

"Don't me keep you." Harriet said, as she smiled and headed back to her own desk.

* * *

TBC


	2. Letters, Part 2

Letters, Part 2

Disclaimer: Same as before.

* * *

Camp Corregidor  
Ramadi, Iraq  
3 May 2005, 1130

"Ok, spill it, what's with the letter writing, Rusty." Specialist Jeff Gossard remarked as he set his lunch tray down onto the table.

"What's to tell. I got a letter from that Any Soldier program and I wrote her back." Rusty replied.

"What, some eight year old?" Gossard remarked.

"Goss, I doubt an eight year old would have good penmanship like this." Rusty remarked with a roll of his eyes.

"Or she could be a he." Porky offered, after swallowing a fork full of food.

"Or could be some frumpy old bat of a secretary." Keck replied sipping water.

"Didn't know you liked cougars, Rusty." DiStephano quipped.

At this Keck burst out laughing mid swallow of water and started coughing. Rusty whacked him on the back a few times before remarking, "Can't have you choking to death before we go on patrol tonight."

"Kiss ass." Porky joked.

"Hey, like they say amongst us snipers, try not to look important, the enemy might be low on ammo." Rusty remarked.

"Nice distractor." Keck commented, "But on the original subject, weren't you the guy who said 'I wonder if she's as beautiful as her penmanship.'."

"You might be bitterly disappointed if she's a frumpy old bat." Porky remarked.

"Or an eight year old girl." Gossard added.

"Or a guy." DiStephano quipped.

Rusty shot the rest of the section the finger. And the rest of them laughed.

"Hey Army," Hartzl remarked from the edge of the conversation, "If you wanna end the debate all you gotta do is ask the girl if she'll send a picture."

The loudspeaker of the nearby mosque just outside the front gate blared, "Kanas. Kanas. Kanas."

"What do you think of getting that tattooed on my bicep." DiStephano remarked, "In Arabic."

"You'd probably get mistaken for a terrorist." Rusty quipped.

"Har Har." DiStephano dead panned.

This time the entire section and a few nearby Marines laughed at DiStephano's expense.

* * *

3 May 2005

Dear Jennifer,

I got your letter at mail call yesterday when I came off a mission. I'll tell you I had to smile when I saw it.

To answer your questions first off, I am an infantryman by trade, a sniper more specifically. Forget any of that lone hunters of men garbage in movies, we work in teams, and my section, call sign Assassin is no exception. Those other seven guys are like brothers to me, they may drive me bats sometimes but brothers do that.

I currently am in college for Civil Engineering, and I enjoy it. I'm considering graduate school, but I'm not sure about that yet.

I figured I'd tell you about the guys. First off there's Staff Sergeant Keck, our section leader. In civilian life he's a police officer in the Orlando Police Department and a SWAT sniper. My team includes an all around handyman and ancient weapons collector, Richard Porter, we all call him Porky, a Cuban American from South Orlando who's a fireman and EMT named Vincent DiStephano, and a newbie named Billy Carwin.

I hope this doesn't come off as creepy but do you think you could send a picture? Most of my teammates seem to think that I'm corresponding with one of three people, an eight year old girl (Gossard thinks that), a guy (DiStephano and Porky think that), or a 'frumpy old bat' (Keck's own words). I happen to think you're around my age (I'm 23) and on the attractive side of the fence. I'll send a couple of mine.

Do your coworkers ever drive you nuts? Wonder what they're like?

Sincerely,

Rusty

* * *

JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, Virginia  
13 May 2005, 1415

"Which one do you think?" Jen asked Tiner as she held a picture of her in uniform with her hair done up and a second with her hair down in a red spaghetti strap top.

"Hmm, they're both nice." Tiner said, stroking his chin.

"You're not helping, Jason." Jen replied with a semi-serious glare, "If you had to decide because someone had a gun to your head, which would you pick."

"Jeez, Jen, morbid much?" Tiner replied.

"Humor me?" Jen asked.

"Ok, the one in uniform." Tiner said, "It brings out your eyes."

"Thanks, Tiner..." Jen began.

"Ahem." A voice sounded behind them, the two petty officers turned to see Gunny standing behind them, "There you are, Tiner. About that file..."

"I dropped it off with General Creswell fifteen minutes ago." Tiner replied.

"Good." Gunny remarked, and asked, "What's going on here?"

"Just trying to figure out which picture to send Rusty, uh, I mean Sergeant Puckett." Jen replied, blushing slightly.

"Go for the one in uniform." Gunny remarked after he looked over the two pictures, "I think it brings out your eyes."

"Thanks, Gunny." Jen replied.

Gunny walked out of the room with a mild smirk, as he watched Jen get back to writing her letter and motioned for Tiner to follow him for another task he had.

* * *

13 May 2005

Dear Rusty,

Thank you for your kind words. And no, it didn't come off as creepy at all. You'll find my picture in the letter. Both my best friend and my supervisor thought that my picture in uniform was the best one to send. I hope it looks good.

Well as far as my coworkers go, my best friend at work is Jason Tiner, he's going to law school and OCS soon to become a JAG this summer, so I'll have to salute him soon. Gunnery Sergeant Galindez is my supervisor, and he's a rock solid Marine but I think he's a big teddy bear under that Marine exterior.  
Well at the risk of the 'long story' disclaimer I am happy to say that the office's longest running sort of romance is now official. Two officers I work for, Captain Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie decided to get engaged. They've worked with each other for almost nine years and almost everyone swore there was just this incredible tension between them. Actually it's now Ms. Mackenzie (soon to be Mrs. Rabb), since they flipped a coin to see who would retire and who would stay in so they could get married.

Stay safe out there. I've been to Afghanistan and saw my boss, Lieutenant Roberts lose his leg to a mine.

Sincerely,

Jen

* * *

Camp Corregidor  
Ramadi, Iraq  
24 May 2005, 1940

"Will you wipe that shit eating grin off your face, Rusty?" Keck commented, "I get it, we were wrong and you were right. Even the best can be wrong sometimes."

"Not grinning about that, Keck." Rusty said as he tucked the photo into his helmet.

"How cliche can you get?" Gossard quipped as he watched Rusty do so.

"Oh come off it, Goss." Rusty quipped, "See, my intuition can be trusted."

"Don't forget, City Bar and Grill, aka Shitty Bar and Grill...the place you recommended we all eat at and get our last beer before we deployed?" Gossard countered.

"Hence why we were trying to save you from getting worked up about a frumpy old bat." Keck remarked as he donned his own helmet and grabbed his pack.

Porky picked up the M24 in its soft case and slung it on his shoulders before commenting, "She's definitely a cutie."

"I think so." Rusty replied as he donned his helmet and grabbed his pack.

"Alright, quit the jawing," Keck said, "Let's get going."

"Roger." Rusty said and he and the other seven members of Assassin walked towards the gate and into the streets of Ramadi.

* * *

TBC


	3. Letters, Part 3

Letters, Part 3

Disclaimer: Same as before.

* * *

23 May 2005

Dear Jennifer,

Sorry if the paper is a bit messy, I've written bits and pieces of this in our hide (uh where we usually hide out and shoot or observe from) since the 23rd when this thing is dated over the past few days.

I have to say that it's a nice picture you sent me. It really brings out your eyes, which I think are quite beautiful. I've taken to keeping the picture in my helmet when were on patrol and in my shirt pocket when we're on the base.

That is a neat story about those two lawyers in your office. Eight years of a lot of sexual/romantic tension between those two? Whoa, that's something else. Reminds me of a couple teachers I had in high school years ago.

It's kinda neat how people you work with in the military can be almost like siblings to you. The guys in my section are like that, their like seven other brothers, in addition to the sister and brother I already have.

As I promised I included a picture too, this is one of me and the guys, labeled so you can tell us apart.

So what's your family like? Do you have any brothers or sisters? And what sort of music do you like?

Sincerely,

Rusty

* * *

Maalab, Ramadi  
Iraq  
27 May 2005, 0510

"Man digging in the road." Carwin said from behind the M24's telescopic sights.

"Got a guy pushing a wheelbarrow." Gossard added, steadying the ACOG's crosshairs on the wheelbarrow man. A burlap sack concealed the object, whatever it was

Rusty sat behind the powerful spotting scope, "350 meters range." Rusty remarked, "Got a guy carrying a bag..."

"Got him." Keck said, raising his M4.

Wheelbarrow man moved the bag revealing two unexplored artillery shells with wires sticking out.

"Confirmed IED." Rusty said.

Three clicks as three safety catches were disengaged.

"Ok Carwin, we're firing on your shot." Rusty whispered, "Send it when ready."

The kid definitely took his training to heart, Rusty noticed, he was applying a steady squeeze to the trigger, slow and deliberate as he exhaled.  
The M24 cracked loudly and a split second later Keck and Gossard's rifles fired as well, sending their smaller but no less lethal 5.56mm rounds down range.

Carwin's man hit the ground like a pole axed mule as the heavy 7.62mm round from the M24 tore into his heart. Gossard's man fell with a head shot and Keck's target with a neck shot.

"Good hits." Rusty said. One IED emplacement team wasn't finishing its mission today.

"If anyone goes to retrieve that IED shoot them." Rusty remarked as Carwin wordlessly worked the bolt on his M24.

They didn't have long to wait. Two men walked from a nearby alleyway, first peeking around a corner and then walking towards their fallen comrades.

"Two guys acting shady..." Rusty observed, out of the corner of one eye he watched Carwin start tracking one of the two men.

"I got the tall dude that's walking fast." Carwin remarked.

"Shorty's mine." Gossard replied, raising his own M16A4.

"Looks like they're thinking better of it..." Rusty remarked as the men halted in their tracks and he swore that he lip read one of the men shouting Kanas.

The two turned to flee and Rusty said, "Let 'em run."

Porky was on the radio, calling to Corregidor to get an EOD team on site for that IED. The other snipers were standing overwatch now.

Once EOD had finished its mission the snipers began to run down to the convoy, joining them on the ride back to base.

* * *

JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, Virginia  
7 June 2005, 1100

"Good morning, Ma'am." Jen said as she passed by Colonel Mackenzie, who was currently in civilian clothes.

"Jen, I'm a civilian now, except if I'm drilling, so it's Mac for now." Mac replied. The coin having landed on tails meant Mac would retire, however she found out, as she was doing her out processing there was a Marine Corps Reserve position open in Europe so she and Harm could still be together in London and Mac could still serve, albeit in a reserve capacity.

"Ok Ma...I mean Mac." Jen replied, "Sorry, force of habit."

"It's ok." Mac replied and then asked, "What have you got there?"

"Oh just a letter I got as part of that pen pal program." Jen replied, holding up Rusty's latest letter, "He's an Army National Guard sniper from Florida."

"He sent a picture?" Mac observed, as she noticed a photo was also in Jen's hand.

"I sent him one and he sent me one in reply. It's one of him and his sniper section. They're in Ramadi working with the Marines." Jen explained showing a picture of eight National Guardsmen in dusty desert fatigues and carrying rifles in front of a plywood hut.

"I see." Mac remarked, curious as she set the cardboard box with her personal effects down on the ground to look at the picture. She also noticed there was writing on the back of the picture, describing each of the men in it.  
Jen pointed at a muscular fellow with a half crown of dirty blonde hair and a couple days of beard stubble who was a dead ringer for Woody Harrelson's doppelgänger. "That's Staff Sergeant Keck, he's the sniper section leader and he's a SWAT team member from Orlando, Florida."

Jen then indicated a tall, somewhat powerfully built dark skinned Hispanic carrying an M4A1, sunglasses atop his head. "That's Specialist Vincent DiStephano, an EMT and firefighter in civilian life, he evidently thought I was a guy..."

Mac chuckled at the thought.

Jen continued, pointing at a brown haired, compact fellow of medium height with a widow's peak, "That's Specialist Jeff Gossard, he's a commercial diver in Jacksonville, FL when he's a civilian. He's the one who thought I was an eight year old girl."

Mac chuckled again, "A little off base."

Jen pointed at a skinny young man in his late teens with a totally shaved head. "That's PFC Billy Carwin, he's the youngest guy on their team. Rusty says he's the quiet one, because he's the most junior."

Jen pointed out a slightly potbellied fellow standing 5'9". "That's the guy they nickname Porky, but his real name is Specialist Richard Porter, he's a jack of all trades on the civilian side, mostly does a lot of construction work."  
Jen pointed out a slightly shorter fellow next to Porky, with black hair and brown eyes and a lean, but athletic build, his Desert Combat Uniform hanging slightly loose on his frame.

"That's Rusty, he's the assistant team leader and also a college student, studying civil engineering at the University of Central Florida." Jen began.  
"He's the one you're writing, right?" Mac asked.

Jen nodded and continued on, pointing out a fellow around Rusty's height carrying one of the M24 bolt action rifles, he was a lean, hazel eyed fellow who wore a Realtree camouflage ball cap.

"That's Specialist Rush Paulson, Rusty calls him a classic good ol' boy who loves to hunt and fish and works for Florida Fish and Game." Jen replied, reading the notes on the man in the back of the picture.

"And the last fellow is PFC Antonio Rivera, he's studying journalism at Rollins College." Jen began, pointing at the other sniper section baby, as Rusty's notes on the picture referred to him. The man was a short, dark skinned Latino with a Puerto Rican flag tattooed on his right forearm.

Mac replied, "I think it's neat he's willing to share all these stories of his with you. It's always good to have someone to write to when you're under those circumstances."

"I think so. And he actually sounds like a decent guy." Jen replied.  
Mac's lips curled up in a smile, "Think he might be taken?"

"I didn't ask." Jen said with a slightly shy grin.

"It can't hurt anything to ask." Mac replied, before picking up her box to take down to her car.

Jen smiled to herself and went back to her desk and during her lunch break began to compose her letter.

* * *

7 June 2005

Dear Rusty,

Your letter arrived yesterday, and I do like the fact that you reciprocated and you sent me a picture to. I wonder if you should become a writer instead of an engineer because the way you write makes everyone in your section come alive.

Regarding music, well I'm a pop music fan, but I also do appreciate a lot of classic rock as well. I listen to almost anything as long as it's good.

As to my family, my mother and father are divorced. Mom ran out on us and my Dad threw himself into his Ministry (yes cue the jokes about a Minister's daughter) to cope. I don't have any siblings, but I have a sort of niece named Mattie, a teenager who lives with me next door to Captain Rabb. It's a long story that I'll tell you someday.

What about you? What's your family like? Huge or tiny? And is there a Mrs. Puckett or future Mrs. Puckett in your life?

Sincerely,

Jen

* * *

TBC


End file.
